Jews ask US to keep up pressure on Hungary

Lobby praises Kerry for fighting the good fight

23 May 2013

Thirteen Jewish organisations sent a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday urging him “to keep the issue of intolerance and discrimination squarely on the US-Hungarian bilateral agenda”. The letter commended Kerry for the release of a Human Rights Report in 2012 that highlighted an increase in xenophobia and antisemitism in Hungary.…

Celebrating Belgian Beers

140 beers to try over three days

22 May 2013

Thirty Belgian breweries! Fifty beers on tap! One hundred and forty kinds of beer! No, it’s not the third Buda Castle Beer Festival (that’s in mid-June and they’ll have some 200 beers), it’s the smaller but much more potent Fourth Belgian Beer Festival, which pitches its tent at Vajdahunyad Castle in City Park starting next…

From zero to EUR 5 a month for kids, aged on fast trains

22 May 2013

National Development Ministry state secretary Pál Völner revealed on Tuesday more details of the extra fares for travelling on express trains (gyorsvonat and sebesvonat). People aged under six and over 65 years of age, who are otherwise entitled to free rail travel, will only be able to use such trains if they buy a monthly…

Cross-Europe hitchhike will stop off in Budapest

Sets out to explore the state of Europan unity

21 May 2013

A group of 26 people from the Sciences Po in Paris will hitchhike from the French capital to Istanbul this summer, stopping off in Budapest during their 30-day trip. view full post »

More in poverty, disparity

Over 17% of households lived on less than EUR 226 a month last year

20 May 2013

The proportion of those living in relative poverty rose considerably between 2009 and 2012, making Hungary what left-wing daily Népszava calls “the country of the poor”. Income inequalities grew, with the share of total income made by those in the lowest tenth of the population dropping from 3.1 to 2.5 per cent. view full post…

The right to decide

Some 60,000 Hungarians living with mental disability are denied the chance to make their own decisions about how they live their lives, activists say. Anaïs Lynn Voski speaks to the director of the Budapest-based Mental Disability Advocacy Centre, an NGO that fights for the human rights of people with disabilities and has been working in Hungary and other Central European countries for more than 10 years.

20 May 2013

Oliver Lewis, executive director of the centre, said their mission essentially “boils down to equality and inclusion”, as many people are placed into large institutions away from their homes, where they do not want to be, and are deprived of their right to make decisions about their lives. “There are about 60,000 people under guardianship…

Violence reaction

Government proposals to protect women don’t go far enough: opposition

19 May 2013

Proposed amendments to the criminal code would mean assailants could be punishable with up to five years in prison, Public Administration and Justice Ministry state secretary Róbert Répássy said on Tuesday as he presented a bill to Parliament. It must be made clear that domestic violence is not a family affair but a serious criminal…